CAF Africa Cup of Nations 2017

Gabon, 14 January - 5 February 2017

Referees
1. Ghead Grisha (EGY)
2. Youssef Essrayri (TUN)
3. Janny Sikazwe (ZAM)
4. Bakary Gassama (GAM, photo)
5. Mehdi Abid Charef (ALG)
6. Daniel Bennett (RSA)
7. Eric Otogo Castane (GAB)
8. Alioum Alioum (CMR)
9. Joshua Bondo (BOT)
10. Bamlak Tessema (ETH)
11. Mahamadou Keita (MLI)
12. Bernard Camille (SEY)
13. Hamada Nampiandraza (MAD)
14. Redouane Jiyed (MAR)
15. Ali Lemghaifry (MTN)
16. Malang Diedhiou (SEN)
17. Denis Dembele (CIV)

Assistant Referees
1. Abo El Sadat (EGY)
2. Anouar Hmila (TUN)
3. Aboubacar Doumbouya (GUI)
4. Abel Baba (NGA)
5. Abdelhak Etchiali (ALG)
6. Zakhele Siwela (RSA)
7. Theophile Vinga (GAB)
8. Evarist Mekouande (CMR)
9. Elvis Noupue (CMR)
10. Marius Tan (CIV)
11. Waleed Ahmed (SDN)
12. Mohammed Ibrahim (SDN)
13. Arsenio Marengula (MOZ)
14. Jerson Dos Santos (ANG)
15. Redouane Achik (MAR)
16. Jean-Claude Birumushahu (BDI)
17. Yahaya Mahamadou (NIG)
18. Marwa Range (KEN)
19. Djibril Camara (SEN)
20. El Hadji Samba (SEN)
21. Olivier Safari (COD)

Collina, special guest at the AFC Elite Referees Seminar

World football’s top referee instructors have been imparting their skills and knowledge to Asia’s best officials in the first-ever combined men and women Asian Football Confederation (AFC) Elite Referees and Assistant Referees Seminar which is taking place in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia and Dubai, the United Arab Emirates, concurrently. Pierluigi Collina, widely regarded as the best referee of his generation, joined the list of AFC instructors as a special guest at the third seminar in Kuala Lumpur. Meanwhile, English Premier League referee Jonathan Moss is also in Dubai to share his experiences with the continent’s officials.
Collina, who has been invited to the seminar to share his insights on modern-day preparation and match control, encouraged participants to take full advantage of the AFC’s ever-improving approach to development. UEFA’s chief refereeing officer, said: “It is all down to match preparation. I know that they are working hard and implementing new systems of preparation. They are paying more attention to every detail and this is the way to continue. This is the path that can bring referees to the top”.
More than 270 referees and assistant referees from around the continent have been divided into four groups to take part in the seminars in Dubai and the Malaysian capital from November 20-30. The five-day seminars, which share the same contents and principles, have been organised to prepare Asia’s referees for 2017 season through theoretical as well as practical sessions on the field of play. “Asian referees have been entrusted with some high-profile matches in 2016. This serves as a testament to the programmes and plans put in place to bring out the best in our men and women officials”, said Deputy Chairman of the AFC Referees Committee, Hany Taleb Ballan, who opened the first session in Kuala Lumpur. “Under the banner of One Asia, One Goal, the AFC will spare no effort in the development of our referees. Looking to 2017, we are committed to ensuring that they continue to succeed on the world’s biggest stages.” The theoretical sessions are focused on the latest updates on the Laws of the Game, analysing penalty area incidents, positioning and movement, tactical fouls and offside interpretation, among other topics. In addition, this year’s seminar also registered a major milestone through the emphasis on the psychological and mental aptitude of referees, which is becoming increasingly crucial alongside physical and theoretical competence. “Football today is far more complex than before. Being physically fit and mastering the Laws of the Game is simply not enough. Developing good psychological skills is imperative to ensure that referees are able to maintain high levels of concentration and remain calm under immense pressure”, revealed José Sánchez García, who was the psychological instructor for FIFA’s Elite Referees from 2007-2010. “This is even more so when referees have to recover quickly if they have made a bad decision. The environment created for top class players, many of whom are benefiting greatly from sport psychology, is precisely the type of setting we must create for our referees to succeed”, he added.
Chinese referee Fu Ming, who officiated the match between Borussia Dortmund and Manchester City in Shenzhen earlier this year, reflected the success of the event when he said: “The AFC is always looking for ways to improve these programmes and this gives referees great confidence and motivation to put the knowledge and experience we have gained here to good use. The opportunity to learn from the AFC and special guest instructors has been invaluable”.

Source: AFC

FIFA Club World Cup 2016 (Updated)

Since the original appointments have been released, FIFA made several changes on the list. Due to his wedding scheduled for December 2016, Costa Rican referee Ricardo Montero and his team have been replaced by Roberto Garcia's trio from Mexico. In AFC, assistant referee Ebrahim Saleh (BHR) was replaced by 28-year-old Taleb Al Marri (QAT), who becomes the youngest match official at this competition. In CAF, assistant referee Marwa Range (KEN) will replace Berhe Tesfagiorghis (ERI), who was recently suspended. In OFC, assistant referee Ravinesh Kumar (FIJ) will no longer participate. Finally, Danny Makkelie (NED) will join the UEFA team as a second Video Assistant Referee.


AFC
Referee: Nawaf Shukralla (BHR, 1976)
Assistant Referee 1: Yaser Tulefat (BHR, 1974)
Assistant Referee 2: Taleb Al Marri (QAT, 1988)
VAR: Ravshan Irmatov (UZB, 1977)

CAF
Referee: Janny Sikazwe (ZAM, 1979)
Assistant Referee 1: Jerson Dos Santos (ANG, 1983)
Assistant Referee 2: Marwa Range (KEN, 1977)
VAR: Bakary Gassama (GAM, 1979)

CONCACAF
Referee: Roberto Garcia (MEX, 1974, photo)
Assistant Referee 1: Jose Camargo (MEX, 1972)
Assistant Referee 2: Alberto Morin (MEX, 1980)
VAR: Mark Geiger (USA, 1974)

CONMEBOL
Referee: Enrique Caceres (PAR, 1974)
Assistant Referee 1: Eduardo Cardozo (PAR, 1982)
Assistant Referee 2: Juan Zorrilla (PAR, 1975)
VAR: Andres Cunha (URU, 1976)

OFC
Referee: Abdelkader Zitouni (TAH, 1981)
Assistant Referee: Philippe Revel (TAH, 1982)
VAR: Nicholas Waldron (NZL, 1982)

UEFA
Referee: Viktor Kassai (HUN, 1975)
Assistant Referee 1: György Ring (HUN, 1981)
Assistant Referee 2: Vencel Toth (HUN, 1978)
VAR: Damir Skomina (SVN, 1976)
VAR: Danny Makkelie (NED, 1983)

Webb among candidates for VAR position with PRO

After reportedly impressing on multiple interviews in the United States, Howard Webb could take on a great role within Major League Soccer. Webb would require clearance from his current positions with BT Sport and the Saudi Arabian Football Federation in order to accept the MLS job. Webb, 45, currently serves as a consultant with both organizations after having retired from refereeing in 2014.
Howard Webb is in the running for a position with the Professional Referee Organization (PRO), but it’s not as a replacement for current general manager Peter Walton. That’s the word from PRO after reports surfaced in the English media that the world-renowned ex-referee was “set to replace Peter Walton.” But PRO confirmed that Walton, who since November 2012 has been at the helm of the group responsible for administering professional referee programs in the USA and Canada, is under contract through the end of 2017. “The Professional Referees Organization is conducting a search for a senior executive who would oversee the Video Assistant Referee (VAR) project,” read Saturday’s statement from PRO. "Peter Walton, the general manager of PRO since its inception in 2012, will continue in his role managing the professional referee programs in North America. Once hired, the new senior executive will report to Walton.” Webb is one of several candidates to manage the VAR project, which MLS is looking to implement in the near future. The league partnered with the United Soccer Leagues (USL) to conduct FIFA-approved live experiments during the 2016 season. The Video Assistant Referee initiative, which is still in a testing and evaluation phase, consists of an additional referee positioned in a booth with technology that allows access to video from every available camera angle at a finger's touch. A communications system allows the VAR to alert and advise the head referee on “game-changing” decisions: goals, penalty decisions, direct red card incidents and cases of mistaken identity. According to the International Football Association Board (IFAB), the body that oversees soccer's Laws of the Game, "the intention is for IFAB to make a decision in 2018 or 2019 on whether or not video assistant referees should be introduced in football”. 

Source: MLS

Referee Grafe reported to UEFA for refusing a search in Manchester

Manchester United have reported Europa League referee Manuel Grafe to UEFA for refusing to be searched before the Europa League game with Feyenoord.
The German official arrived at Old Trafford with the rest of his team two hours before kick-off. But when security stopped Berlin-based Grafe at the entrance for players and officials to search him and his bag he refused. The 43-year-old Bundesliga referee said he was an UEFA-endorsed match official and was not required to be searched on entering any ground. Staff from Controlled Event Solutions, who operate security both inside and outside Old Trafford, explained searches were mandatory for all visitors. Fans, match-day staff, media and directors are all searched if requested, with United sensitive about security having suffered high-profile recent breaches. However, at the same moment as the stand-off involving Grafe, United boss Jose Mourinho entered without being asked to undergo a similar search. As such, Grafe refused and made his way to the referee’s room with his team. United’s chief security officer was called, and Grafe was reported to Estonian Alnar Leppanen, UEFA’s match delegate for the night. Referee Grafe later apologised to staff, but claimed he had never been asked to submit to a search while on referee duty. 
After looking into the case and speaking to the official, UEFA have elected to take no further action against the match official. They believe their officials, similar to club players and coaching staff, should not be controlled in such a manner as they are officially accredited by the association. "The referee had asked questions about the search procedure," said a UEFA spokesman. "The matter has been discussed with the club and there is, in this regard, no consequences for the referees".

Source: Mirror

FIFA U-20 Women’s World Cup 2016 – Semi-finals

29 November 2016

Korea DPR – USA
Referee: Katalin Kulcsar (HUN, photo)
Assistant Referee 1: Katalin Torok (HUN)
Assistant Referee 2: Svetlana Bilic (SRB)
Fourth Official: Finau Vulivuli (FIJ)
Reserve AR: Angela Kyriakou (CYP)

Japan – France
Referee: Melissa Borjas (HON)
Assistant Referee 1: Shirley Perello (HON)
Assistant Referee 2: Kimberly Moreira (CRC)
Fourth Official: Silvia Reyes (PER)
Reserve AR: Monica Amboya (ECU)

Whistle blown on MSP Douglas Ross's refereeing clash

A leading Scottish Conservative MSP missed a parliamentary committee to referee a Champions League match in Portugal. Douglas Ross is a Tory justice spokesman to Rush Davidson, who serves as the leader of Scotland's opposition party. Basically, it's a pretty important job. But Ross has another job: assistant referee. And he may lose his job as justice spokesman because of his refereeing, according to the Daily Record. Ross was supposed to be at a parliamentary meeting last week; however, he missed it because he was serving as an assistant referee for the Real Madrid vs. Sporting Lisbon Champions League match. Because of that, there have been calls for Davidson to fire Ross.
Refereeing isn't even Ross's second job. It's his third. Douglas Ross earns up to £40,000 a year as a self-employed specialist assistant football referee, according to his Scottish Parliament register of interests. He is also a councillor with Moray Council and his trip to Portugal meant he missed its policy and resources committee meeting on Tuesday. SNP MSP Ben Macpherson said it was not the first time Ross's refereeing job had affected his parliamentary work. He has been criticized in the past for not showing enough commitment to his job as justice spokesman. In September, Ross was supposed to attend key meetings and a vote over military base closures. But he wasn't available for them because he was at a five-day refereeing course in Switzerland. When Ross was criticized for it, the Tories called it "a one-off problem", but it's pretty clearly not just a one-off anymore. Macpherson said: "The arrogance and blatant disrespect of 'three jobs' Tory Douglas Ross is simply staggering. "Last time the whistle was blown on one of his refereeing junkets the Tories claimed it was just a 'one off'. But he's at it again - and this time it should be a straight red card. "Obviously he values his £40k-a-year weekend job - and all-expenses paid trips to Lisbon and other European cities - more than his responsibilities as an MSP and local councillor, demonstrating complete contempt for the people who elected him. "If Douglas Ross can't pitch up to do his job, it's time for relegation - he should either take a step back from refereeing or stand down from Holyrood's justice committee with immediate effect and Ruth Davidson should give him the boot from her frontbench team." A spokesman for the Scottish Conservatives said: "Earlier this year Ben Macpherson asked Douglas to kindly speak to clubs in his constituency about refereeing - presumably this invitation has now been rescinded".

Source: BBC/FOX

UEFA Futsal Cup – Elite Round

23-27 November 2016

Kairat Almaty – Real Rieti

First referee: Marc Birkett (ENG, photo)
Second referee: Kamil Çetin (TUR)

Inter – Chrudim

First referee: Miguel Castilho (POR)
Second referee: Alessandro Malfer (ITA)

Ugra – Hamburg
First referee: Franco Cachia (MLT)
Second referee: Pascal Lemal (BEL)

Brezje Maribor – Ekonomac
First referee: Gerd Bylois (BEL)
Second referee: Ivan Shabanov (RUS)

Nacional – Araz
First referee: Eduardo Fernandes (POR)
Second referee: Gabriel Gherman (ROU)

Nikars Riga – FC Feniks
First referee: Trayan Enchev (BUL)
Second referee: Petar Mantev (MKD)

KMF Ekonomac – Inter FS
First referee: Alessandro Malfer (ITA)
Second referee: Gerd Bylois (BEL)

Araz Naxçivan – Ugra Yugorsk
First referee: Pascal Lemal (BEL)
Second referee: Eduardo Fernandes (POR)

Brezje Maribor – Chrudim
First referee: Ivan Shabanov (RUS)
Second referee: Miguel Castilho (POR)

FC Dynamo – City'US Târgu Mureş

First referee: Saša Tomić (CRO)
Second referee: Juan Gallardo (ESP)

Nacional Zagreb FC – Hamburg Panthers
First referee: Gabriel Gherman (ROU)
Second referee: Franco Cachia (MLT)

Sporting CP – Győri ETO
First referee: Cédric Pelissier (FRA)
Second referee: Borut Šivic (SVN)

Real Rieti – Nikars Riga
First referee: Kamil Çetin (TUR)
Second referee: Marc Birkett (ENG)

Kairat Almaty – FC Feniks

First referee: Petar Mantev (MKD)
Second referee: Trayan Enchev (BUL)

Győri ETO – FC Dynamo
First referee: Borut Šivic (SVN)
Second referee: Saša Tomić (CRO)

Sporting CP – City'US Târgu Mureş
First referee: Juan Gallardo (ESP)

Second referee: Cédric Pelissier (FRA)

Hamburg Panthers – Araz Naxçivan
First referee: Pascal Lemal (BEL)
Second referee: Franco Cachia (MLT)

Chrudim – KMF Ekonomac
First referee: Ivan Shabanov (RUS)
Second referee: Miguel Castilho (POR)

Ugra Yugorsk – Nacional Zagreb
First referee: Eduardo Fernandes (POR)
Second referee: Gabriel Gherman (ROU)

Inter FS – Brezje Maribor
First referee: Alessandro Malfer (ITA) 

Second referee: Gerd Bylois (BEL)

Feniks – Rieti
First referee: Trayan Enchev (BUL)
Second referee: Petar Mantev (MKD)

Nikars – Kairat
First referee: Marc Birkett (ENG)
Second referee: Kamil Çetin (TUR)

Târgu Mureş – Győr
First referee: Cédric Pelissier (FRA)
Second referee: Borut Šivic (SVN)

Dynamo – Sporting CP

First referee: Saša Tomić (CRO)
Second referee: Juan Gallardo (ESP)

Webb: EPL players asked for bookings around Christmas time

Former Premier League referee Howard Webb has claimed that top players try to get booked and suspended in the run-up to Christmas, as they look to get time off over the festive season.
Webb established himself as one of the top officials in the game in a career that included his selection to take charge of the 2010 World Cup final, with his claims made on BT Sport set to cause a stir in the game. While he did not mention any names with his contentious comments, it was clear that he feels he has been put in a position to hand out yellow cards to players eager to pick up a ban in the final week of December. When asked if a player had ever asked Webb to give him a yellow card, he offered up this surprising response: “A couple of times around Christmas players will want the time off and they will say a yellow card will suit my purpose,” suggested Webb. “It is not what fans what to hear really. He added that if a player is determined enough to get booked, there is not a lot he can do. The former World Cup final ref said: “As long as they don't do something stupid, maybe just a small holding offence or kicking the ball away and they might get what they want”.
Back in 2009, then-Premier League official Steve Bennett made a similar accusation that players had come to him and asked for bookings so they could get Christmas off. He told an undercover reporter that players went out with the intention to get booked. One player is alleged to have gone into Bennett’s dressing room asking for a booking on the pitch, and another asking to get booked so he didn’t have to play against a specific team.

Source: The Sun

FIFA U-20 Women’s World Cup 2016 – Quarter-finals

24 November 2016
Japan – Brazil
Referee: Jana Adamkova (CZE, photo)
Assistant Referee 1: Solenne Bartnik (FRA)
Assistant Referee 2: Biljana Atanasovski (MKD)
Fourth Official: Monika Mularczyk (POL)


Korea DPR – Spain
Referee: Casey Reibelt (AUS)
Assistant Referee 1: Sarah Ho (AUS)
Assistant Referee 2: Michelle O'Neill (IRL)
Fourth Official: Silvia Reyes (PER)

25 November 2016
USA – Mexico
Referee: Riem Hussein (GER)
Assistant Referee 1: Belinda Brem (SUI)
Assistant Referee 2: Angela Kyriakou (CYP)
Fourth Official: Finau Vulivuli (FIJ)

Germany – France

Referee: Quetzalli Alvarado (MEX)
Assistant Referee 1: Lixy Enriquez (MEX)
Assistant Referee 2: Chantal Boudreau (CAN)
Fourth Official: Therese Neguel (CMR)

UEFA Europa League – Group Stage (Matchday 5)

24 November 2016 

Manchester United – Feyenoord
Referee: Manuel Gräfe (GER, photo)
Assistant Referee 1: Guido Kleve (GER)
Assistant Referee 2: Holger Henschel (GER)
Additional AR 1: Robert Hartmann (GER)
Additional AR 2: Sascha Stegemann (GER)
Fourth Official: Christian Gittelmann (GER)
Referee Observer: Christer Fällström (SWE)

Celta Vigo – Standard Liège
Referee: Benoît Bastien (FRA)
Assistant Referee 1: Hicham Zakrani (FRA)
Assistant Referee 2: Frédéric Haquette (FRA)
Additional AR 1: Benoît Millot (FRA)
Additional AR 2: Jérôme Miguelgorry (FRA)
Fourth Official: Julien Pacelli (FRA)
Referee Observer: Jozef Marko (SVK)

FC Zenit – Maccabi Tel Aviv
Referee: Aleksandar Stavrev (MKD)
Assistant Referee 1: Marjan Kirovski (MKD)
Assistant Referee 2: Dejan Kostadinov (MKD)
Additional AR 1: Dimitar Meckarovski (MKD)
Additional AR 2: Dejan Jakimovski (MKD)
Fourth Official: Nikola Karakolev (MKD)
Referee Observer: Gevorg Hovhannisyan (ARM)

Qəbəla – Anderlecht
Referee: Ievgenii Aranovskyi (UKR)
Assistant Referee 1: Sergii Bekker (UKR)
Assistant Referee 2: Oleksandr Voytyuk (UKR)
Additional AR 1: Anatoliy Abdula (UKR)
Additional AR 2: Anatolii Zhabchenko (UKR)
Fourth Official: Semen Shlonchak (UKR)
Referee Observer: Igor Satkii (MDA)

Astana – Apoel
Referee: Kevin Blom (NED)
Assistant Referee 1: Patrick Langkamp (NED)
Assistant Referee 2: Joost Van Zuilen (NED)
Additional AR 1: Danny Makkelie (NED)
Additional AR 2: Dennis Higler (NED)
Fourth Official: Bas Van Dongen (NED)
Referee Observer: Zoran Petrović (SRB)

Fenerbahçe – Zorya Luhansk
Referee: Harald Lechner (AUT)
Assistant Referee 1: Andreas Heidenreich (AUT)
Assistant Referee 2: Maximilian Kolbitsch (AUT)
Additional AR 1: Alexander Harkam (AUT)
Additional AR 2: Julian Weinberger (AUT)
Fourth Official: Andreas Staudinger (AUT)
Referee Observer: Sokol Jareci (ALB)

FC Zürich – Villarreal
Referee: Davide Massa (ITA)
Assistant Referee 1: Mauro Tonolini (ITA)
Assistant Referee 2: Fabiano Preti (ITA)
Additional AR 1: Paolo Valeri (ITA)
Additional AR 2: Daniele Doveri (ITA)
Fourth Official: Alessandro Costanzo (ITA)
Referee Observer: László Vagner (HUN)

Steaua București – Osmanlispor
Referee: Paolo Mazzoleni (ITA)
Assistant Referee 1: Alessandro Giallatini (ITA)
Assistant Referee 2: Filippo Meli (ITA)
Additional AR 1: Marco Guida (ITA)
Additional AR 2: Massimiliano Irrati (ITA)
Fourth Official: Riccardo Di Fiore (ITA)
Referee Observer: Stefan Messner (AUT)

Sparta Praha – Southampton
Referee: Jesús Gil Manzano (ESP)
Assistant Referee 1: Ángel Nevado Rodríguez (ESP)
Assistant Referee 2: Juan Yuste Jiménez (ESP)
Additional AR 1: Carlos Del Cerro Grande (ESP)
Additional AR 2: Juan Martínez Munuera (ESP)
Fourth Official: Roberto Alonso Fernández (ESP)
Referee Observer: Francesco Bianchi (SUI)

Hapoel Beer Sheva – Internazionale
Referee: Javier Estrada Fernández (ESP)
Assistant Referee 1: Miguel Martínez Munuera (ESP)
Assistant Referee 2: Teodoro Sobrino Magán (ESP)
Additional AR 1: Alejandro Hernández Hernández (ESP)
Additional AR 2: Ricardo De Burgos Bengoetxea (ESP)
Fourth Official: Javier Aguilar Rodríguez (ESP)
Referee Observer: Elmir Pilav (BIH)

Fiorentina – PAOK
Referee: Stephan Klossner (SUI)
Assistant Referee 1: Remy Zgraggen (SUI)
Assistant Referee 2: Marco Zürcher (SUI)
Additional AR 1: Alain Bieri (SUI)
Additional AR 2: Sascha Amhof (SUI)
Fourth Official: Johannes Vogel (SUI)
Referee Observer: Haim Jakov (ISR)

Sloven Liberec – Qarabağ FK
Referee: Stefan Johannesson (SWE)
Assistant Referee 1: Fredrik Nilsson (SWE)
Assistant Referee 2: Mehmet Culum (SWE)
Additional AR 1: Andreas Ekberg (SWE)
Additional AR 2: Kristoffer Karlsson (SWE)
Fourth Official: Magnus Sjöblom (SWE)
Referee Observer: Stefano Podeschi (SMR)

Schalke – Nice
Referee: Äliyar Ağayev (AZE)
Assistant Referee 1: Zeynal Zeynalov (AZE)
Assistant Referee 2: Reza Mammadov (AZE)
Additional AR 1: Orkhan Mammadov (AZE)
Additional AR 2: Rahim Hasanov (AZE)
Fourth Official: Mubariz Hashimov (AZE)
Referee Observer: Marián Ružbarský (SVK)

FC Krasnodar – FC Salzburg
Referee: Liran Liany (ISR)
Assistant Referee 1: David Bitton (ISR)
Assistant Referee 2: Nissan Davidy (ISR)
Additional AR 1: Eitan Shmuelevitz (ISR)
Additional AR 2: Menashe Masiah (ISR)
Fourth Official: Oren Bornshtein (ISR)
Referee Observer: Aleh Chykun (BLR)

KAA Gent – SC Braga
Referee: Vladislav Bezborodov (RUS)
Assistant Referee 1: Valeri Danchenko (RUS)
Assistant Referee 2: Maksim Gavrilin (RUS)
Additional AR 1: Kirill Levnikov (RUS)
Additional AR 2: Igor Fedotov (RUS)
Fourth Official: Andrei Vereteshkin (RUS)
Referee Observer: Bernardino González Vázquez (ESP)

Shakhtar Donetsk – Konyaspor
Referee: Kevin Clancy (SCO)
Assistant Referee 1: David McGeachie (SCO)
Assistant Referee 2: Graeme Stewart (SCO)
Additional AR 1: Steven McLean (SCO)
Additional AR 2: Donald Robertson (SCO)
Fourth Official: Douglas Potter (SCO)
Referee Observer: Jouni Hyytiä (FIN)

Ajax – Panathinaikos
Referee: Aleksei Eskov (RUS)
Assistant Referee 1: Dmitri Mosiakin (RUS)
Assistant Referee 2: Igor Demeshko (RUS)
Additional AR 1: Alexei Nikolaev (RUS)
Additional AR 2: Alexander Egorov (RUS)
Fourth Official: Alexey Lunev (RUS)
Referee Observer: Miroslav Vitković (CRO)

Athletic Club – Sassuolo Calcio
Referee: Viktor Kassai (HUN)
Assistant Referee 1: György Ring (HUN)
Assistant Referee 2: Vencel Tóth (HUN)
Additional AR 1: Tamás Bognar (HUN)
Additional AR 2: Ádam Farkas (HUN)
Fourth Official: Gabor Erös (HUN)
Referee Observer: Gylfi Orasson (ISL)

KRC Genk – Rapid Wien
Referee: Ivan Kružliak (SVK)
Assistant Referee 1: Tomas Somolani (SVK)
Assistant Referee 2: Ondrej Brendza (SVK)
Additional AR 1: Peter Kralović (SVK)
Additional AR 2: Mario Vlk (SVK)
Fourth Official: Tomas Mokos (SVK)
Referee Observer: Kyros Vassaras (GRE)

Austria Wien – Astra Giurgiu
Referee: Paweł Raczkowski (POL)
Assistant Referee 1: Michał Obukowicz (POL)
Assistant Referee 2: Tomasz Listkiewicz (POL)
Additional AR 1: Tomasz Musiał (POL)
Additional AR 2: Tomasz Kwiatkowski (POL)
Fourth Official: Radoslaw Siejka (POL)
Referee Observer: Eugen Strigel (GER)

AS Roma – Viktoria Plzeň
Referee: Tobias Stieler (GER)
Assistant Referee 1: Rafael Foltyn (GER)
Assistant Referee 2: Thorsten Schiffner (GER)
Additional AR 1: Daniel Siebert (GER)
Additional AR 2: Patrick Ittrich (GER)
Fourth Official: Marco Achmüller (GER)
Referee Observer: Georgios Bikas (GRE)

Dundalk FC – AZ Alkmaar
Referee: István Vad (HUN)
Assistant Referee 1: István Albert (HUN)
Assistant Referee 2: Peter Berettyán (HUN)
Additional AR 1: Sándor Andó-Szabó (HUN)
Additional AR 2: Jozsef Erdos (HUN)
Fourth Official: László Viszokai (HUN)
Referee Observer: Costas Kapitanis (CYP)

AS Saint Étienne – FSV Mainz
Referee: Bas Nijhuis (NED)
Assistant Referee 1: Rob Van de Ven (NED)
Assistant Referee 2: Charles Schaap (NED)
Additional AR 1: Serdar Gözübüyük (NED)
Additional AR 2: Ed Janssen (NED)
Fourth Official: Davie Goossens (NED)
Referee Observer: Roberto Rosetti (ITA)

Olympiacos – Young Boys
Referee: Miroslav Zelinka (CZE)
Assistant Referee 1: Ondrej Pelikan (CZE)
Assistant Referee 2: Jan Paták (CZE)
Additional AR 1: Radek Příhoda (CZE)
Additional AR 2: Jan Jilek (CZE)
Fourth Official: Jiří Moláček (CZE)
Referee Observer: Ryszard Wójcik (POL)

Referee Lamptey suspended for 3 months and removed from CAN 2017

The Confederation of African Football (CAF) has handed a three-month suspension to Ghanaian referee Joseph Lamptey for his “poor performance” in the 2018 FIFA World Cup qualifier between South Africa and Senegal. 
Lamptey (photo) was accused of awarding a wrong penalty to South Africa, who picked all three points at home over Senegal in a 2-1 win. Lamptey’s decision at the Peter Mokaba Stadium on 12 November 2016 was questioned by Senegal, the 2002 World Cup quarter-finalists. The FSF also claimed South Africa's second goal from Thulani Serero was invalid as Bafana played while the referee had stopped the game for “an imaginary free-kick and was giving a verbal warning to the Senegalese defensive midfielder Idrissa Gana Guèye and captain Cheikhou Kouyaté”. But that claim was not upheld by the CAF Referees Committee which ruled on the matter on Monday, 21 November 2016. Lamptey, who was chosen as the 2015 Ghanaian Referee of the Year, was suspended for three months and removed from CAN 2017. At this time, it is not clear whether he will remain as a reserve referee on the CAF list of prospective referees for the FIFA World Cup 2018.
Two other match officials, Kenyan referee Davies Omweno and Eritrean AR Berhe O’Michael, are also to sit out for three months, while Rwandan AR Theogene Ndagijimana received a warning for their performance in the match Libya - Tunisia.

CAF Referees Committee decisions:
- Referee Joseph Lamptey (GHA), match South Africa – Senegal, 3 months suspension, poor performance: awarded a wrong penalty for handball despite the fact that the ball never touched the hand of the player.
- Referee Davies Omweno (KEN), match Libya – Tunisia, 3 months suspension, poor performance: wrong positioning and movement, incorrect identification of fouls and failure to administer some disciplinary sanctions.
- Assistant Referee Berhe O’Michael (ERI), match Libya – Tunisia, 3 months suspension, poor performance: offside decisions including one denying a valid goal by Libya.
- Assistant Referee Theogene Ndagijimana (RWA), match Lybia – Tunisia, warning: missed multiple basic offside decisions which denied teams’ promising attacks.

Source: CAF

UEFA Champions League – Group Stage (Matchday 5)

22 November 2016
AS Monaco – Tottenham Hotspur
Referee: Björn Kuipers (NED, photo)
Assistant Referee 1: Sander van Roekel (NED)
Assistant Referee 2: Erwin Zeinstra (NED)
Additional AR 1: Pol van Boekel (NED)
Additional AR 2: Richard Liesveld (NED)
Fourth Official: Mario Diks (NED)
Referee Observer: Rune Pedersen (NOR)


Sporting Lisbon – Real Madrid
Referee: William Collum (SCO)
Assistant Referee 1: Francis Connor (SCO)
Assistant Referee 2: Douglas Ross (SCO)
Additional AR 1: Robert Madden (SCO)
Additional AR 2: John Beaton (SCO)
Fourth Official: Stuart Stevenson (SCO)
Referee Observer: Frank De Bleeckere (BEL)

CSKA Moskva – Bayer Leverkusen
Referee: Alberto Undiano Mallenco (ESP)
Assistant Referee 1: Raúl Cabañero Martínez (ESP)
Assistant Referee 2: Diego Barbero Sevilla (ESP)
Additional AR 1: Carlos Clos Gómez (ESP)
Additional AR 2: José Sánchez Martínez (ESP)
Fourth Official: Roberto Díaz Pérez (ESP)
Referee Observer: Karen Nalbandyan (ARM)

Borussia Dortmund – Legia Warszawa
Referee: Martin Strömbergsson (SWE)
Assistant Referee 1: Daniel Gustavsson (SWE)
Assistant Referee 2: Joakim Nilsson (SWE)
Additional AR 1: Mohammed Al-Hakim (SWE)
Additional AR 2: Bojan Pandzić (SWE)
Fourth Official: Per Brogevik (SWE)
Referee Observer: Nikolai Levnikov (RUS)

Leicester City – Club Brügge
Referee: Ruddy Buquet (FRA)
Assistant Referee 1: Guillaume Débart (FRA)
Assistant Referee 2: Frédéric Cano (FRA)
Additional AR 1: Tony Chapron (FRA)
Additional AR 2: Amaury Delerue (FRA)
Fourth Official: Cyril Gringore (FRA)
Referee Observer: Vladimir Sajn (SVN)

FC København – FC Porto
Referee: Milorad Mažić (SRB)
Assistant Referee 1: Milovan Ristić (SRB)
Assistant Referee 2: Dalibor Djurdjević (SRB)
Additional AR 1: Danilo Grujić (SRB)
Additional AR 2: Nenad Djokić (SRB)
Fourth Official: Nemanja Petrović (SRB)
Referee Observer: Bertrand Layec (FRA)

Dinamo Zagreb – Olympique Lyon
Referee: Pavel Královec (CZE)
Assistant Referee 1: Roman Slyško (SVK)
Assistant Referee 2: Ivo Nadvornik (CZE)
Additional AR 1: Petr Ardeleanu (CZE)
Additional AR 2: Karel Hrubes (CZE)
Fourth Official: Tomas Mokrusch (CZE)
Referee Observer: David Elleray (ENG)

Sevilla FC – Juventus Turin
Referee: Mark Clattenburg (ENG)
Assistant Referee 1: Jake Collin (ENG)
Assistant Referee 2: Simon Bennett (ENG)
Additional AR 1: Anthony Taylor (ENG)
Additional AR 2: Andre Marriner (ENG)
Fourth Official: Ian Hussin (ENG)
Referee Observer: Murat Ilgaz (TUR)

23 November 2016
Arsenal – Paris St. Germain
Referee: Felix Brych (GER)
Assistant Referee 1: Mark Borsch (GER)
Assistant Referee 2: Stefan Lupp (GER)
Additional AR 1: Bastian Dankert (GER)
Additional AR 2: Marco Fritz (GER)
Fourth Official: Jan Seidel (GER)
Referee Observer: Konrad Plautz (AUT)

Ludogorets Razgrad – Basel
Referee: Martin Atkinson (ENG)
Assistant Referee 1: Stephen Child (ENG)
Assistant Referee 2: Stuart Burt (ENG)
Additional AR 1: Michael Oliver (ENG)
Additional AR 2: Craig Pawson (ENG)
Fourth Official: Adam Nunn (ENG)
Referee Observer: Paulius Malzinskas (LTU)

Beşiktaş – Benfica

Referee: Damir Skomina (SVN)
Assistant Referee 1: Jure Praprotnik (SVN)
Assistant Referee 2: Robert Vukan (SVN)
Additional AR 1: Matej Jug (SVN)
Additional AR 2: Slavko Vinčić (SVN)
Fourth Official: Bojan Ul (SVN)
Referee Observer: Lutz-Michael Fröhlich (GER)

SSC Napoli – Dynamo Kyiv
Referee: Ovidiu Hațegan (ROU)
Assistant Referee 1: Octavian Şovre (ROU)
Assistant Referee 2: Sebastian Gheorghe (ROU)
Additional AR 1: Radu Petrescu (ROU)
Additional AR 2: Sebastian Coltescu (ROU)
Fourth Official: Radu Ghinguleac (ROU)
Referee Observer: Juan Fernández Marín (ESP)

Celtic – FC Barcelona
Referee: Daniele Orsato (ITA)
Assistant Referee 1: Gianluca Cariolato (ITA)
Assistant Referee 2: Lorenzo Manganelli (ITA)
Additional AR 1: Luca Banti (ITA)
Additional AR 2: Carmine Russo (ITA)
Fourth Official: Elenito Di Liberatore (ITA)
Referee Observer: Alexandru Deaconu (ROU)

Borussia Mönchengladbach – Manchester City
Referee: Cüneyt Çakir (TUR)
Assistant Referee 1: Bahattin Duran (TUR)
Assistant Referee 2: Tarik Ongun (TUR)
Additional AR 1: Hüseyin Göçek (TUR)
Additional AR 2: Baris Şimşek (TUR)
Fourth Official: Mustafa Eyisoy (TUR)
Referee Observer: Zdravko Jokić (SRB)

FC Rostov – Bayern München
Referee: Artur Soares Dias (POR)
Assistant Referee 1: Rui Barbosa (POR)
Assistant Referee 2: Paulo Santos (POR)
Additional AR 1: Tiago Lopes (POR)
Additional AR 2: Joao Silva (POR)
Fourth Official: Nuno Pereira (POR)
Referee Observer: Alain Hamer (LUX)

Atlético Madrid – PSV Eindhoven
Referee: Aleksei Kulbakov (BLR)
Assistant Referee 1: Dmitry Zhuk (BLR)
Assistant Referee 2: Aleh Maslianka (BLR)
Additional AR 1: Dzianis Shcharbakou (BLR)
Additional AR 2: Viktar Shymusik (BLR)
Fourth Official: Yury Khomchanka (BLR)
Referee Observer: Bo Karlsson (SWE)

AFC Referee Awards 2016: Faghani (IRN) & Jacewicz (AUS)

From an early age, football was far more than just a game for Alireza Faghani. For the 38-year-old, the passion for football and refereeing runs deep in his family roots. “I come from a family of referees. Both my brother and brother-in-law are referees. My father and father-in-law were also professional referees in the Iranian league back home. They had a big influence on me. I spent hours watching and studying them. From 16 years of age, I always knew refereeing was my calling,” Faghani told the-AFC.com in an exclusive after receiving the AFC Referees Special Award 2016 alongside his Islamic Republic of Iran compatriots Reza Sokhandan and Mohammad Reza Mansouri in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia on Sunday. The IR Iran trio made Asian history during the Rio Olympics 2016 when they were selected to officiate the final of the Men's Football Tournament in August. “Reza and Mohammad have been fantastic and together, we have formed a great partnership. As a centre referee, you need to be aware of every detail on the pitch and they have made my life so much easier,” added Faghani. While the chemistry between the trio produced one of the proudest moments for Asian refereeing this year, the unassuming Faghani was also quick to praise his continent’s counterparts for a stellar year. “This special award is dedicated to all referees in Asia. Through the AFC programmes and seminar that we have attended together, we have grown closer and we are all inspired to give our best each time we enter the pitch. “I must express my gratitude to the AFC instructors and all Asian referees. There is an entire team working continuously behind the scene and none of this would have been possible without them.”
Echoing his sentiments, Australia’s Kate Jacewicz, who alongside fellow countrywoman Renae Coghill and India’s Uvena Fernandes, received the award in the women’s category after being the first-ever AFC women’s team to officiate the all-Asian final in the FIFA U-17 Women’s World Cup in Jordan last month and attributed the accolade to the teamwork and solidarity of her peers. “Renae and Uvena are consummate professionals. During training and preparation, they have always given 100% and they are extremely committed to ensuring that we work well as a unit.If you look at the seminar today, this is precisely the type of programmes that allows us to sharpen our abilities,” revealed Jacewicz, referring to the first-ever combined women’s and men’s Elite Referees and Assistant Referees Seminar, which opened after the awards ceremony. “Both male and female referees have a journey. They have a story to tell and different experiences which we can learn from. Gender doesn’t discriminate and through sharing our stories, we will benefit and grow together,” added the New South Wales native who began refereeing in Australia’s national women’s league at just 18 years of age, before becoming a FIFA referee eight years later. Looking to the future, Jacewicz hopes to emulate the achievements of her accomplished AFC instructors and referees, many of whom have paved the way for today’s generation of men and women referees. “My ultimate aim is to officiate at the FIFA Women’s World Cup 2019 in France. In the meantime, I am taking it one step at a time and will continue studying our elite referees and AFC instructors. I especially look to DPR Korea’s Ri Hyang-Ok, Ravshan Irmatov from Uzbekistan and of course Faghani for inspiration. All of them are beautiful to watch.”

Source: AFC

FIFA U-20 Women’s World Cup 2016 – Group Stage (Matches 17-24)

20 November 2016
Nigeria – Spain
Referee: Melissa Borjas (HON, photo)
Assistant Referee 1: Shirley Perello (HON)
Assistant Referee 2: Emperatriz Ayala (SLV)
Fourth Official: Quetzalli Alvarado (MEX)

Canada – Japan
Referee: Fatou Thioune (SEN)
Assistant Referee 1: Tempa N’Dah (BEN)
Assistant Referee 2: Mona Mahmoud (EGY)
Fourth Official: Therese Neguel (CMR)

Korea DPR – Papua New Guinea
Referee: Yercinia Correa (VEN)
Assistant Referee 1: Mariana Corbo (URU)
Assistant Referee 2: Yoly Garcia (VEN)
Fourth Official: Silvia Reyes (PER)

Brazil – Sweden
Referee: Qin Liang (CHN)
Assistant Referee 1: Fang Yan (CHN)
Assistant Referee 2: Bao Mengxiao (CHN)
Fourth Official: Aye Thein (MYA)

21 November 2016
New Zealand – France
Referee: Silvia Reyes (PER)
Assistant Referee 1: Monica Amboya (ECU)
Assistant Referee 2: Viviana Segura (ECU)
Fourth Official: Yercinia Correa (VEN)

USA – Ghana
Referee: Sara Persson (SWE)
Assistant Referee 1: Michelle O'Neill (IRL)
Assistant Referee 2: Julia Magnusson (SWE)
Fourth Official: Riem Hussein (GER)

Korea – Germany
Referee: Marianela Araya (CRC)
Assistant Referee 1: Kimberly Moreira (CRC)
Assistant Referee 2: Emperatriz Ayala (SLV)
Fourth Official: Finau Vulivuli (FIJ)

Venezuela – Mexico

Referee: Monika Mularczyk (POL)
Assistant Referee 1: Maryna Striletska (UKR)
Assistant Referee 2: Elena Tepusa (ROU)
Fourth Official: Casey Reibelt (AUS)

UEFA Youth League – Domestic Champions Path (Second Round, Second Leg)

23-30 November 2016

Dynamo Moscow – Maccabi Haifa
Referee: Dominik Ouschan (AUT, photo)
Assistant Referee 1: Markus Gutschi (AUT)
Assistant Referee 2: Stefan Gamper (AUT)
Fourth Official: Anastasia Pustovoitova (RUS)
Referee Observer: Nikolai Ivanov (RUS)

Kairat Almaty – FC Salzburg
Referee: Giorgi Kruashvili (GEO)
Assistant Referee 1: Besik Chichinadze (GEO)
Assistant Referee 2: Davit Gabisonia (GEO)
Fourth Official: Arman Ismuratov (KAZ)
Referee Observer: Vladimi Antonov (MDA)

AS Roma – Cork City
Referee: Zbyněk Proske (CZE)
Assistant Referee 1: Radek Kotík (CZE)
Assistant Referee 2: Jakub Hrabovský (CZE)
Fourth Official: Valerio Marini (ITA)
Referee Observer: Matteo Trefoloni (ITA)

FC Zürich – Viitorul Constanta

Referee: Mario Zebec (CRO)
Assistant Referee 1: Jerko Crnčić (CRO)
Assistant Referee 2: Vedran Đurak (CRO)
Fourth Official: Lionel Tschudi (SUI)
Referee Observer: Markus Nobs (SUI)

Čukarički – Rosenborg
Referee: Alexandru Tean (MDA)
Assistant Referee 1: Anatolie Bodean (MDA)
Assistant Referee 2: Denis Borisov (MDA)
Fourth Official: Lazar Lukić (SRB)
Referee Observer: Miroslav Radoman (SRB)

Ajax – PAOK
Referee: Gunnar Jónsson (ISL)
Assistant Referee 1: Gunnar Guðmundsson (ISL)
Assistant Referee 2: Andri Vigfússon (ISL)
Fourth Official: Jochem Kamphuis (NED)
Referee Observer: Marinus Koopman (NED)

Midtjylland – Málaga
Referee: Jari Järvinen (FIN)
Assistant Referee 1: Sami Nykänen (FIN)
Assistant Referee 2: Veli-Matti Leppänen (FIN)
Fourth Official: Sandi Putros (DEN)
Referee Observer: Peter Mikkelsen (DEN)

Sparta Praha – Altınordu

Referee: Mitja Žganec (SVN)
Assistant Referee 1: Grega Kordež (SVN)
Assistant Referee 2: Tomislav Pospeh (SVN)
Fourth Official: Ondrej Berka (CZE)
Referee Observer: Jiri Ulrich (CZE)

UEFA Youth League – Group Stage (Matchday 5)

22-23 November 2016

Sevilla – Juventus
Referee: Robert Madley (ENG, photo)
Assistant Referee 1: Harry Lennard (ENG)
Assistant Referee 2: Edward Smart (ENG)
Fourth Official: Jorge Figueroa Vázquez (ESP)
Referee Observer: Murat Ilgaz (TUR)

CSKA Moskva – Bayer Leverkusen
Referee: Aleksandrs Golubevs (LVA)
Assistant Referee 1: Raimonds Tatriks (LVA)
Assistant Referee 2: Jevgenijs Morozovs (LVA)
Fourth Official: Alexandra Ponomareva (RUS)
Referee Observer: Karen Nalbandyan (ARM)

AS Monaco – Tottenham Hotspur

Referee: Pavel Orel (CZE)
Assistant Referee 1: Petr Blažej (CZE)
Assistant Referee 2: Zdeněk Arnošt (CZE)
Referee Observer: Rune Pedersen (NOR)

Borussia Dortmund – Legia Warszawa
Referee: Yaroslav Kozyk (UKR)
Assistant Referee 1: Viktor Matyash (UKR)
Assistant Referee 2: Volodymyr Vysotskyi (UKR)
Fourth Official: Arne Aarnink (GER)
Referee Observer: Edgar Steinborn (GER)

Sporting Clube Portugal – Real Madrid
Referee: Mads-Kristoffer Kristoffersen (DEN)
Assistant Referee 1: Dennis Rasmussen (DEN)
Assistant Referee 2: Elvis Boric (DEN)
Fourth Official: Rui Piteira Rodrigues (POR)
Referee Observer: Frank De Bleeckere (BEL)

FC København – FC Porto
Referee: Juri Frischer (EST)
Assistant Referee 1: Silver Koiv (EST)
Assistant Referee 2: Neeme Neemlaid (EST)
Fourth Official: Peter Munch Larsen (DEN)
Referee Observer: Jens Larsen (DEN)

Leicester City – Club Brugge
Referee: Vilhjálmur Bórarinsson (ISL)
Assistant Referee 1: Gylfi Sigurðsson (ISL)
Assistant Referee 2: Oddur Guðmundsson (ISL)
Fourth Official: Peter Bankes (ENG)
Referee Observer: Stephen Lodge (ENG)

GNK Dinamo – Olympique Lyonnais
Referee: Marius Avram (ROU)
Assistant Referee 1: Valentin Avram (ROU)
Assistant Referee 2: Mircea Orbuleţ (ROU)
Fourth Official: Željko Frković (CRO)
Referee Observer: Draženko Kovačić (CRO)

Arsenal – Paris St. Germain
Referee: Andrew Dallas (SCO)
Assistant Referee 1: Jordan Stokoe (SCO)
Assistant Referee 2: Paul O'Neill (SCO)
Fourth Official: John Brooks (ENG)
Referee Observer: Konrad Plautz (AUT)

Ludogorets – Basel
Referee: Fyodor Zammit (MLT)
Assistant Referee 1: Mitchell Scerri (MLT)
Assistant Referee 2: Luke Portelli (MLT)
Fourth Official: Stefan Apostolov (BUL)
Referee Observer: Paulius Malžinskas (LTU)

Beşiktaş – Benfica
Referee: Demetrios Masias (CYP)
Assistant Referee 1: Georgios Savva (CYP)
Assistant Referee 2: Nikos Samaras (CYP)
Referee Observer: Lutz-Michael Fröhlich (GER)

SSC Napoli – Dynamo Kyiv

Referee: Boris Marhefka (SVK)
Assistant Referee 1: Michal Tomčík (SVK)
Assistant Referee 2: Tomas Vorel (SVK)
Fourth Official: Fabrizio Pasqua (ITA)
Referee Observer: Juan Fernández Marín (ESP)

Celtic – Barcelona
Referee: Martin Lundby (NOR)
Assistant Referee 1: Reidar Gundersen (NOR)
Assistant Referee 2: Morten Jense (NOR)
Fourth Official: David Munro (SCO)
Referee Observer: William Young (SCO)

Borussia Mönchengladbach – Manchester City
Referee: Bartosz Frankowski (POL)
Assistant Referee 1: Marcin Boniek (POL)
Assistant Referee 2: Jakub Winkler (POL)
Fourth Official: Timo Gerach (GER)
Referee Observer: Karel Bohunek (CZE)

Atlético Madrid – PSV Eindhoven
Referee: Frank Schneider (FRA)
Assistant Referee 1: Nicolas Henninot (FRA)
Assistant Referee 2: Djemel Zitouni (FRA)
Fourth Official: Valentín Pizarro Gómez (ESP)
Referee Observer: Manuel Mejuto González (ESP)

FC Rostov – Bayern München
Referee: Suren Baliyan (ARM)
Assistant Referee 1: Mesrop Ghazaryan (ARM)
Assistant Referee 2: Vanik Simonyan (ARM)
Fourth Official: Artem Chistyakov (RUS)
Referee Observer: Alain Hamer (LUX)

Elizondo: “Well, that’s it. Zidane’s got to go”

Argentinian referee Horacio Elizondo made history at Germany 2006, becoming the first match official to take charge of the Opening Match and the Final of a FIFA World Cup. He shared his memories of it with fifa.com, with talk inevitably turning to the event that left an indelible mark on the tournament: the sending-off of France’s Zinedine Zidane in the Final against Italy. 
“When you are young you dream about the things you’d like to do, but then life takes you in other directions,” said the former referee, who knew at the age of 15 that he was not going to make it as a professional footballer. “I realised that there were a lot of young players like me, and that it was going to be very difficult to make it to the first division.” He chose instead to devote his energies to athletics, with his love for sport in general eventually leading him to become a PE teacher. In time, refereeing would allow him to fulfil the dreams he harboured as a child, albeit by an alternative route: “I achieved my objective not by becoming a player or an Olympic athlete but a referee, first at the 2004 Olympic Games in Athens and then at the 2006 World Cup in Germany”.
Intensive preparations
The road to those major events was long and demanding. It took Elizondo a whole ten years to progress from his first international match to the 2006 Final in Berlin, a journey in which he endured the frustration of missing out on a place at Korea/Japan 2002. His preparations for the big event in Germany were extensive to say the least, as the 52-year-old Argentinian explained: “It wasn’t a month or 35 or 40 days. I spent three years working towards the objective of preparing in the best possible way for that World Cup and being up to the job when I got there. And it was the same for my team, not just me. “It was at that World Cup that they were first called refereeing teams and that refereeing began to be envisaged and seen in a different way, with specific efforts being made to build confidence, which is absolutely crucial to teamwork. That was vital and very important.” The preparation paid off, enabling Elizondo to arrive in Germany in peak condition and in pursuit of a very clear goal: “The aim was not to prepare a referee to take charge of a World Cup match, or two or three, or even half a match, but to prepare us for refereeing the Final.” Elizondo and his assistants, Rodolfo Otero and Dario Garcia, were selected for the Opening Match between Germany and Costa Rica in Munich. Recalling the experience, he said: “I was absolutely thrilled and it was a big responsibility because it was down to us to show the world how the Laws of the Game were going to be applied and interpreted.” The Argentinian trio would officiate at five matches at Germany 2006, each one of which posed a different challenge. “The second game was the toughest: Czech Republic against Ghana,” recalled Elizondo. “They were two very physical teams and it was a physical game with a lot of fouls. The pace of the game was very fast too, and the players never let up. “Then we had Switzerland-Korea Republic, who were both playing for a place in the next round. After that it was England v Portugal in the quarter-finals, where a mistake can be fatal because you don’t have the chance to make amends. That game went to penalties. And then came the Final”.
A grand occasion
There was a surprise in store for Elizondo and his team in the biggest game of the tournament. “Finals are usually quieter affairs because teams try not to make any mistakes, but that was a different kind of final,” said the ex-referee. “We hadn’t even gone five minutes and I was giving a penalty to France,” he added. “Then Dario Garcia disallowed a goal for Italy. And then came the equaliser and the famous incident between Zidane and (Marco) Materazzi.” Explaining his take on the clash that marked the end of the Frenchman’s career, the Argentinian official said: “I was a long way away from it. I stopped play and went over to where the Italian player was. I asked my assistants on the microphone link if they had seen anything. They both said they hadn’t. And then on came Luis Medina Cantalejo, who was the fourth official. He said: ‘Violent headbutt by No. 10 white on…’. I can’t remember what number Materazzi was wearing.” Elizondo then explained the moment that made such a mark on that World Cup: “Medina Cantalejo said to me: ‘You won’t believe it when you see it’. And I thought to myself: ‘Oh, no! Something terrible has happened here’. And thanks to those three years of working together, of trust and teamwork, I believed in what Luis was telling me. I said: ‘Well, that’s it. Zidane’s got to go’.”
The reunion
Player and referee came face to face again a year later. “It was in Murcia, in the south of Spain, at an adidas product launch,” explained Elizondo. “They asked if either of us had a problem with being at an event together. We both said we didn’t. “We stayed at the same hotel and we crossed paths in the lobby a few times. We had breakfast: him with his family and me with mine. We all said hello to each other. We didn’t speak at all about that match, that Final and what happened, which tells you how good Zinedine Zidane is with people.”
Having made history at Germany 2006, Elizondo returned home to find that things were not quite the same as when he had left: “It was amazing to go back to Argentina and see the number of reporters waiting for me. It was like the return of the prodigal son. So many big things happened in a short space of time, and I wasn’t ready for them. “I was embarrassed at everything that happened: walking out on the pitch and having both sets of fans applaud me, signing autographs, getting a call from the Argentinian president...”
Elizondo took charge of his last game at the end of 2006, a match between Boca Juniors and Lanus at La Bombonera. It was a game the home side had to win to lift the title. They lost. After sounding the final whistle, the man in the middle received an unexpected farewell from the stands. Recalling the send-off, he said: “It was the kind of thing you would expect for a player, not a referee. I wasn’t ready for it, for it to be so romantic, if you will, so positive. I was expecting to go out on a negative note, something more traumatic, more controversial. It was a new experience for me, something new that I learned and it really warmed my heart”.

Source: FIFA

FIFA: VAR not ready for live testing

FIFA president Gianni Infantino says the 'video-assistant referee' system still needs to be tested further before it can be implemented into live games after a trial in Tuesday's friendly between Italy and Germany. Two of Europe's powerhouse nations played out a fairly dismal 0-0 draw at San Siro, giving Infantino and associates little to test in a bunker inside the stadium laden with television screens.
Infantino confirmed that three incidents in the game were reviewed by the video team, but all three were merely confirmation of decisions made by referee Artur Soares Dias. "We are still testing, nothing is perfect yet," Infantino said. "But at least we had some situations where the video assistant can help the referee and confirm his decisions. We will see how the system works and it will be tested further. It has to become second nature." The technology had previously been tested in the international friendly between Italy and France in September and has also been trialed in six other countries - Australia, Brazil, Germany, Netherlands, Portugal and the United States.

Source: Sporting News

Referee Zambrano confronted in the tunnel after Colombia - Argentina

Colombia's defeat by Argentina leaves their hopes of qualifying for the 2018 World Cup in doubt - and James Rodriguez was not happy with the referee's performance during their 3-0 loss. Lionel Messi scored one and had a hand in two more as Argentina ran riot in their World Cup qualifying clash with Colombia on Tuesday.
But Colombia captain James appeared incensed following his country's defeat and angrily confronted the referee in the tunnel after the full-time whistle. The Real Madrid outcast can be seen making his feelings known to Roddy Zambrano as the teams made their way back to their dressing rooms.
Walking alongside team-mate David Ospina, the Arsenal keeper, James remonstrated with the match official before stopping in his path as Zambrano approached a flight of stairs. James was angry after receiving a yellow card for a clash with Argentina's Gabriel Mercado, where they were involved in a heated exchange.

Source: Daily Mail

Dzeko sent off for pulling down opposing player’s shorts

Edin Dzeko had the bare cheek to pull down an opposing player’s shorts in a bizarre twist to his country’s match with Greece in a World Cup 2018 qualifier, but the captain of Bosnia and Herzegovina ended up seeing red when he was subsequently sent-off.
The incident, in the last 10 minutes of the World Cup qualifier when Dzeko’s team were leading 1-0, started when the former Manchester City player, now at Roma, went down under a challenge from Sokratis Papastathopoulos just outside the opponents’ penalty area. The Greek’s shorts were pulled down as he attempted to wrestle the ball out of Dzeko’s grasp, resulting in an altercation involving most of the players from both sides as well as both teams’ technical staff. Dzeko, who was already on a yellow card, was sent off by the referee, Jonas Eriksson, while Kyriakos Papadopoulos was given a straight red for pushing in the skirmishes after the initial incident. Greece went on to get an equaliser in injury time with both teams reduced to 10 men. “I got a red card for no reason, I don’t know why,” Dzeko said afterwards. “The referee says I started the whole thing, but I was the only one ending on the floor, so how could I have started it? He added: “I feel like losing 3-0. Greece didn’t deserve this point. They didn’t even deserve a 1-0 loss, they deserved to lose 4-0”.

Source: The Guardian

AFC Champions League Final 2016


First Leg, 19 November 2016
Jeonbuk Hyundai – Al Ain
Referee: Ahmed Al Kaf (OMA, photo)
Assistant Referee 1: Rashid Al Ghaithi (OMA)
Assistant Referee 2: Abdullah Al Jardani (OMA)

Second Leg, 26 November 2015
Al Ain – Jeonbuk Hyundai
Referee: Ryuji Sato (JPN)
Assistant Referee 1: Toru Sagara (JPN)
Assistant Referee 2: Hiroshi Yamauchi (JPN)

FIFA U-20 Women’s World Cup 2016 – Group Stage (Matches 9-16)

16 November 2016
Korea DPR – Brazil
Referee: Riem Hussein (GER, photo)
Assistant Referee 1: Belinda Brem (SUI)
Assistant Referee 2: Angela Kyriakou (CYP)
Fourth Official: Finau Vulivuli (FIJ)

Spain – Japan
Referee: Marianela Araya (CRC)
Assistant Referee 1: Kimberly Moreira (CRC)
Assistant Referee 2: Emperatriz Ayala (SLV)
Fourth Official: Quetzalli Alvarado (MEX)

Papua New Guinea – Sweden
Referee: Aye Thein (MYA)
Assistant Referee 1: Sarah Ho (AUS)
Assistant Referee 2: Fang Yan (CHN)
Fourth Official: Qin Liang (CHN)

Nigeria – Canada
Referee: Sara Persson (SWE)
Assistant Referee 1: Michelle O'Neill (IRL)
Assistant Referee 2: Julia Magnusson (SWE)

Fourth Official: Jana Adamkova (CZE)

17 November 2016
France – Ghana
Referee: Quetzalli Alvarado (MEX)
Assistant Referee 1: Lixy Enriquez (MEX)
Assistant Referee 2: Chantal Boudreau (CAN)
Fourth Official: Yercinia Correa (VEN)

Germany – Mexico
Referee: Silvia Reyes (PER)
Assistant Referee 1: Monica Amboya (ECU)
Assistant Referee 2: Viviana Segura (ECU)
Fourth Official: Aye Thein (MYA)

New Zealand – USA
Referee: Therese Neguel (CMR)
Assistant Referee 1: Tempa N’Dah (BEN)
Assistant Referee 2: Mona Mahmoud (EGY)
Fourth Official: Fatou Thioune (SEN)

Korea – Venezuela
Referee: Katalin Kulcsar (HUN)
Assistant Referee 1: Katalin Torok (HUN)
Assistant Referee 2: Svetlana Bilic (SRB)
Fourth Official: Sara Persson (SWE)

FIFA World Cup 2018 Qualifiers – AFC (Round 3, Matchday 5)

15 November 2016

Korea – Uzbekistan
Referee: Fahad Al Mirdasi (KSA, photo)
Assistant Referee 1: Abdulah Al Shalwai (KSA)
 Assistant Referee 2: Mohamed Al Abakry (KSA)
Fourth Official: Turki Al Khudair (KSA)


Thailand – Australia
Referee: Fahad Al Marri (QAT)
Assistant Referee 1: Juma Al Burshaid (QAT)
Assistant Referee 2: Ramzan Al Naemi (QAT)
Fourth Official: Khamis Al Kuwari (QAT)

Japan – Saudi Arabia
Referee: Muhammad Bin Jahari (SIN)
Assistant Referee 1: Ronnie Min (SIN)
Assistant Referee 2: Edwin Lee (SIN)
Fourth Official: Sukhbir Singh (SIN)

UAE – Iraq
Referee: Ilgiz Tantashev (UZB)
Assistant Referee 1: Ruslan Serazitdinov (UZB)
Assistant Referee 2: Alisher Usmanov (UZB
Fourth Official: Aziz Asimov (UZB)

China – Qatar
Referee: Mohanad Sarray (IRQ)
Assistant Referee 1: Muayad Ali (IRQ)
Assistant Referee 2: Faisal Shwair (IRQ)
Fourth Official: Ahmad Ibrahim (IRQ)

Syria – Iran
Referee: Ali Al Qaysi (IRQ)
Assistant Referee 1: Ameer Hussein (IRQ)
Assistant Referee 2: Azman Ismail (IRQ)
Fourth Official: Zaid Thamer (IRQ)

FIFA World Cup 2018 Qualifiers – CONMEBOL (Matchday 12)

15 November 2016

Argentina – Colombia
Referee: Roddy Zambrano (ECU, photo)
Assistant Referee 1: Byron Romero (ECU)
Assistant Referee 2: Christian Lescano (ECU)
Fourth Official: Carlos Orbe (ECU)
Referee Assessor: Ubaldo Aquino (PAR)

Bolivia – Paraguay
Referee: Christian Ferreyra (URU)
Assistant Referee 1: Mauricio Espinosa (URU)
Assistant Referee 2: Gabriel Popovits (URU)
Fourth Official: Esteban Ostojich (URU)
Referee Assessor: Cesar Escano (PER)

Ecuador – Venezuela
Referee: Roberto Tobar (CHI)
Assistant Referee 1: Carlos Astroza (CHI)
Assistant Referee 2: Jose Retamal (CHI)
Fourth Official: Patricio Polic (CHI)
Referee Assessor: Otalvaro Polanco (COL)

Chile – Uruguay
Referee: Enrique Caceres (PAR)
Assistant Referee 1: Eduardo Cardozo (PAR)
Assistant Referee 2: Juan Zorrilla (PAR)
Fourth Official: Ulises Mereles (PAR)
Referee Assessor: Rodolfo Otero (ARG)

Peru – Brazil
Referee: Wilmar Roldan (COL)
Assistant Referee 1: Christian De la Cruz (COL)
Assistant Referee 2: Alexander Leon (COL)
Fourth Official: Luis Sanchez (COL)
Referee Assessor: Ivan Gamboa (BOL)

FIFA World Cup 2018 Qualifiers – CONCACAF (Round 5, Matchday 2)

15 November 2016

Costa Rica – USA
Referee: Cesar Ramos (MEX, photo)
Assistant Referee 1: Marvin Torrentera (MEX)
Assistant Referee 2: Miguel Hernandez (MEX)
Fourth Official: Fernando Guerrero (MEX)

Panama – Mexico

Referee: Ricardo Montero (CRC)
Assistant Referee 1: Carlos Fernandez (CRC)
Assistant Referee 2: Juan Mora (CRC)
Fourth Official: Henry Bejarano (CRC)

Honduras – Trinidad & Tobago
Referee: Jair Marrufo (USA)
Assistant Referee 1: Corey Rockwell (USA)
Assistant Referee 2: Frank Anderson (USA)
Fourth Official: Baldomero Toledo (USA)

FIFA World Cup 2018 Qualifiers – OFC (Round 3, Matchday 2)

13-15 November 2016

Solomon Islands – Tahiti
Referee: Matthew Conger (NZL, photo)
Assistant Referee 1: Simon Lount (NZL)
Assistant Referee 2: Tevita Makasini (TGA)
Fourth Official: Joel Hoppken (TGA)

New Caledonia – New Zealand
Referee: George Time (SOL)
Assistant Referee 1: Folio Modeaki (TGA)
Assistant Referee 1: Stephen Seniga (SOL)
Fourth Official: Abdelkader Zitouni (TAH)

UEFA U-21 Euro 2017 Play-offs (Second Leg)

15 November 2016

Spain – Austria
Referee: Serdar Gözübüyük (NED, photo)
Assistant Referee 1: Dave Goossens (NED)
Assistant Referee 2: Bas van Dongen (NED)
Fourth Official: Pol van Boekel (NED)
Referee Observer: Alexandru Deaconu (ROU)

Norway – Serbia
Referee: Ivan Kružliak (SVK)
Assistant Referee 1: Roman Slyško (SVK)
Assistant Referee 2: Martin Balko (SVK)
Fourth Official: Peter Kralović (SVK)
Referee Observer: Cyril Zimmermann (SUI)

FIFA U-20 Women’s World Cup 2016 – Group Stage (Matches 1-8)

13 November 2016
Sweden – Korea DPR
Referee: Melissa Borjas (HON, photo)
Assistant Referee 1: Shirley Perello (HON)
Assistant Referee 2: Chantal Boudreau (CAN)
Fourth Official: Yercinia Correa (VEN)

Spain – Canada
Referee: Qin Liang (CHN)
Assistant Referee 1: Fang Yan (CHN)
Assistant Referee 2: Bao Mengxiao (CHN)
Fourth Official: Therese Neguel (CMR)

Papua New Guinea – Brazil
Referee: Katalin Kulcsar (HUN)
Assistant Referee 1: Katalin Torok (HUN)
Assistant Referee 2: Svetlana Bilic (SRB)
Fourth Official: Riem Hussein (GER)

Japan – Nigeria

Referee: Quetzalli Alvarado (MEX)
Assistant Referee 1: Lixy Enriquez (MEX)
Assistant Referee 2: Elizabeth Aguilar (SLV)
Fourth Official: Silvia Reyes (PER)

14 November 2016
France – USA
Referee: Casey Reibelt (AUS)
Assistant Referee 1: Sarah Ho (AUS)
Assistant Referee 2: Kim Kyoung Min (KOR)
Fourth Official: Aye Thein (MYA)

Germany – Venezuela
Referee: Finau Vulivuli (FIJ)
Assistant Referee 1: Maria Tamalelagi (SAM)
Assistant Referee 2: Kimberly Moreira (CRC)
Fourth Official: Marianela Araya Cruz (CRC)

Ghana – New Zealand
Referee: Monika Mularczyk (POL)
Assistant Referee 1: Maryna Striletska (UKR)
Assistant Referee 2: Elena Tepusa (ROU)
Fourth Official: Sara Persson (SWE)

Mexico – Korea
Referee: Jana Adamkova (CZE)
Assistant Referee 1: Solenne Bartinik (FRA)
Assistant Referee 2: Biljana Atanasovski (MKD)
Fourth Official: Fatou Thioune (SEN)

FIFA World Cup 2018 Qualifiers – UEFA (Matchday 4)

11-13 November 2016

England – Scotland
Referee: Cüneyt Çakir (TUR, photo)
Assistant Referee 1: Bahattin Duran (TUR)
Assistant Referee 2: Tarik Ongun (TUR)
Fourth Official: Hüseyin Göçek (TUR)
Referee Assessor: Matteo Trefoloni (ITA)

France – Sweden
Referee: Milorad Mažić (SRB)
Assistant Referee 1: Milovan Ristić (SRB)
Assistant Referee 2: Dalibor Djurdjević (SRB)
Fourth Official: Nenad Djokić (SRB)
Referee Assessor: Christakis Skapoullis (CYP)

Northern Ireland – Azerbaijan
Referee: Clément Turpin (FRA)
Assistant Referee 1: Nicolas Danos (FRA)
Assistant Referee 2: Cyril Gringore (FRA)
Fourth Official: Frank Schneider (FRA)
Referee Assessor: Manuel Lopez Fernandez (ESP)

San Marino – Germany
Referee: Artyom Kuchin (KAZ)
Assistant Referee 1: Yevgeniy Belskiy (KAZ)
Assistant Referee 2: Anatoliy Khodin (KAZ)
Fourth Official: Aleksander Gauzer (KAZ)
Referee Assessor: Shmuel Shteif (ISR)

Czech Republic – Norway
Referee: Bas Nijhuis (NED)
Assistant Referee 1: Rob van de Ven (NED)
Assistant Referee 2: Charles Schaap (NED)
Fourth Official: Pol van Boekel (NED)
Referee Assessor: Nikolai Levnikov (RUS)

Armenia – Montenegro
Referee: Pavel Královec (CZE)
Assistant Referee 1: Roman Slyško (SVK)
Assistant Referee 2: Ivo Nádvorník (CZE)
Fourth Official: Miroslav Zelinka (CZE)
Referee Assessor: Ichko Lozev (BUL)

Denmark – Kazakhstan
Referee: Alon Yefet (ISR)
Assistant Referee 1: Danny Krasikow (ISR)
Assistant Referee 2: Nissan Davidy (ISR)
Fourth Official: Orel Grinfeeld (ISR)
Referee Assessor: Drazenko Kovacic (CRO)

Romania – Poland
Referee: Damir Skomina (SVN)
Assistant Referee 1: Jure Praprotnik (SVN)
Assistant Referee 2: Robert Vukan (SVN)
Fourth Official: Matej Jug (SVN)
Referee Assessor: Rodger Gifford (WAL)

Malta – Slovenia
Referee: Pawel Raczkowski (POL)
Assistant Referee 1: Michal Obukowicz (POL)
Assistant Referee 2: Radoslaw Siejka (POL)
Fourth Official: Tomasz Musial (POL)
Referee Assessor: Konrad Plautz (AUT)

Slovakia – Lithuania
Referee: Anastasios Sidiropoulos (GRE)
Assistant Referee 1: Polychronis Kostaras (GRE)
Assistant Referee 2: Lazaros Dimitriadis (GRE)
Fourth Official: Alexandros Aretopoulos (GRE)
Referee Assessor: Michael Ross (NIR)

Georgia – Moldova
Referee: Georgi Kabakov (BUL)
Assistant Referee 1: Martin Margaritov (BUL)
Assistant Referee 2: Martin Venev (BUL)
Fourth Official: Nikola Popov (BUL)
Referee Assessor: Tomasz Mikulski (POL)

Austria – Ireland

Referee: Sergei Karasev (RUS)
Assistant Referee 1: Anton Averianov (RUS)
Assistant Referee 2: Tikhon Kalugin (RUS)
Fourth Official: Aleksei Nikolaev (RUS)
Referee Assessor: Pierluigi Collina (ITA)

Wales – Serbia
Referee: Alberto Undiano Mallenco (ESP)
Assistant Referee 1: Roberto Díaz Pérez (ESP)
Assistant Referee 2: Raúl Cabañero Martínez (ESP)
Fourth Official: Carlos Clos Gómez (ESP)
Referee Assessor: Luciano Luci (ITA)

Albania – Israel
Referee: Deniz Aytekin (GER)
Assistant Referee 1: Guido Kleve (GER)
Assistant Referee 2: Markus Häcker (GER)
Fourth Official: Daniel Siebert (GER)
Referee Assessor: Adrian Casha (MLT)

Liechtenstein – Italy
Referee: Ivan Bebek (CRO)
Assistant Referee 1: Tomislav Petrović (CRO)
Assistant Referee 2: Miro Grgić (CRO)
Fourth Official: Mario Zebec (CRO)
Referee Assessor: Nuno Castro (POR)

Spain – Macedonia

Referee: Robert Schörgenhofer (AUT)
Assistant Referee 1: Maximilian Kolbitsch (AUT)
Assistant Referee 2: Andreas Heidenreich (AUT)
Fourth Official: Dominik Ouschan (AUT)
Referee Assessor: Kaj Natri (FIN)

Croatia – Iceland
Referee: Gianluca Rocchi (ITA)
Assistant Referee 1: Mauro Tonolini (ITA)
Assistant Referee 2: Filippo Meli (ITA)
Fourth Official: Paolo Mazzoleni (ITA)
Referee Assessor: Vladimir Sajn (SVN)

Turkey – Kosovo
Referee: Tamás Bognar (HUN)
Assistant Referee 1: Balázs Buzas (HUN)
Assistant Referee 2: Zsolt Varga (HUN)
Fourth Official: Ferenc Karako (HUN)
Referee Assessor: Stefan Messner (AUT)

Ukraine – Finland

Referee: Manuel De Sousa (POR)
Assistant Referee 1: Alvaro Mesquita (POR)
Assistant Referee 2: Ricardo Santos (POR)
Fourth Official: Fabio Verissimo (POR)
Referee Assessor: Gerard Perry (IRL)

Bulgaria – Belarus
Referee: Stephan Klossner (SUI)
Assistant Referee 1: Remy Zgraggen (SUI)
Assistant Referee 2: Marco Zürcher (SUI)
Fourth Official: Alain Bieri (SUI)
Referee Assessor: Karen Nalbandyan (ARM)

Luxembourg – Netherlands
Referee: Anthony Taylor (ENG)
Assistant Referee 1: Stephen Child (ENG)
Assistant Referee 2: Gary Beswick (ENG)
Fourth Official: Robert Madley (ENG)
Referee Assessor: Rune Pedersen (NOR)

Hungary – Andorra
Referee: Christos Nicolaides (CYP)
Assistant Referee 1: Charalambos Charalambous (CYP)
Assistant Referee 2: Ioannis Lazarou (CYP)
Fourth Official: Demetrios Masias (CYP)
Referee Assessor: Zoran Petrovic (SRB)

Portugal – Latvia
Referee: Robert Madden (SCO)
Assistant Referee 1: David McGeachie (SCO)
Assistant Referee 2: Stuart Stevenson (SCO)
Fourth Official: Steven McLean (SCO)
Referee Assessor: Eugen Strigel (GER)

Switzerland – Faroe Islands
Referee: Sébastien Delferiere (BEL)
Assistant Referee 1: Yves De Neve (BEL)
Assistant Referee 2: Kevin Monteny (BEL)
Fourth Official: Alexandre Boucaut (BEL)
Referee Assessor: Marinus Koopman (NED)

Cyprus – Gibraltar
Referee: Aliyar Aghayev (AZE)
Assistant Referee 1: Rza Mammadov (AZE)
Assistant Referee 2: Zeynal Zeynalov (AZE)
Fourth Official: Orkhan Mammadov (AZE)
Referee Assessor: Stefano Podeschi (SMR)

Belgium – Estonia
Referee: Alexandru Tudor (ROU)
Assistant Referee 1: Vasile Marinescu (ROU)
Assistant Referee 2: Mihai Artene (ROU)
Fourth Official: István Kovács (ROU)
Referee Assessor: Kaj Ostergaard (DEN)

Greece – Bosnia & Herzegovina
Referee: Jonas Eriksson (SWE)
Assistant Referee 1: Mathias Klasenius (SWE)
Assistant Referee 2: Daniel Wärnmark (SWE)
Fourth Official: Andreas Ekberg (SWE)
Referee Assessor: Jan Fasung (SVK)

FIFA World Cup 2018 Qualifiers – CONMEBOL (Matchday 11)

10 November 2016

Brazil – Argentina
Referee: Julio Bascunan (CHI, photo)
Assistant Referee 1: Christian Schiemann (CHI)
Assistant Referee 2: Marcelo Barraza (CHI)
Fourth Official: Jorge Osotio (CHI)
Referee Assessor: Martin Vazquez (URU)

Colombia – Chile
Referee: Wilton Sampaio (BRA)
Assistant Referee 1: Kleber Gil (BRA)
Assistant Referee 2: Bruno Boschilia (BRA)
Fourth Official: Luiz De Oliveira (BRA)
Referee Assessor: Candelario Andarcia (VEN)

Venezuela – Bolivia
Referee: Andres Cunha (URU)
Assistant Referee 1: Richard Trinidad (URU)
Assistant Referee 2: Horacio Ferreiro (URU)
Fourth Official: Leodan Gonzalez (URU)
Referee Assessor: Carlos Vera (ECU)

Uruguay – Ecuador

Referee: Patricio Loustau (ARG)
Assistant Referee 1: Ezequiel Brailovsky (ARG)
Assistant Referee 2: Ivan Nunez (ARG)
Fourth Official: Dario Herrera (ARG)
Referee Assessor: Francisco Mondria (CHI)

Paraguay – Peru
Referee: Víctor Carrillo (PER)
Assistant Referee 1: Jonny Bossio (PER)
Assistant Referee 2: Coty Carrera (PER)
Fourth Official: Miguel Santivañez (PER)
Referee Assessor: Roberto Perassi (BRA)

FIFA World Cup 2018 Qualifiers – CONCACAF (Round 5, Matchday 1)

11 November 2016

USA – Mexico
Referee: Walter Lopez (GUA, photo)
Assistant Referee 1: Leonel Leal (CRC)
Assistant Referee 2: Gerson Lopez (GUA)
Fourth Official: Oscar Reyna (GUA)

Honduras – Panama
Referee: Yadel Martinez (CUB)
Assistant Referee 1: Leonardo Santos (CUB)
Assistant Referee 2: Jairo Morales (PUR)
Fourth Official: Javier Santos (PUR)

Trinidad & Tobago – Costa Rica
Referee: Oscar Moncada (HON)
Assistant Referee 1: Oscar Velasquez (HON)
Assistant Referee 2: Walter Lopez (HON)
Fourth Official: Armando Castro (HON)

FIFA World Cup 2018 Qualifiers – CAF (Round 3, Matchday 2)

11-13 November 2016

Nigeria – Algeria

Referee: Bakary Gassama (GAM, photo)
Assistant Referee 1: Jean Birumushahu (BDI)
Assistant Referee 2: Marwa Range (KEN)
Fourth Official: Ebrima Jallow (GAM)

Libya – Tunisia

Referee: Davies Omweno (KEN)
Assistant Referee 1: Berhe Tesfagiorghis (ERI)
Assistant Referee 2: Theogene Ndaguimana (RWA)
Fourth Official: Anthony Ogwayo (KEN)

South Africa – Senegal
Referee: Joseph Lamptey (GHA)
Assistant Referee 1: Daniel Laryea (GHA)
Assistant Referee 2: Ibrahim Badiu (GHA)
Fourth Official: William Agbovi (GHA)

Uganda – Congo

Referee: Mehdi Abid Charef (ALG)
Assistant Referee 1: Abdelhak Etchiali (ALG)
Assistant Referee 2: Mokrane Gourari (ALG)
Fourth Official: Redouane Necib (ALG)

Cameroon – Zambia

Referee: Malang Diedhiou (SEN)
Assistant Referee 1: Djibril Camara (SEN)
Assistant Referee 2: El Hadji Samba (SEN)
Fourth Official: Daouda Gueye (SEN)

Cape Verde Islands – Burkina Faso
Referee: Bouchaab Lemghaifri (MTN)
Assistant Referee 1: Aboubacar Doumbouya (GUI)
Assistant Referee 2: Abderahmane Warr (MTN)
Fourth Official: Aboubacar Bangoura (GUI)

Mali – Gabon
Referee: Janny Sikazwe (ZAM)
Assistant Referee 1: Jerson Dos Santos (ANG)
Assistant Referee 2: Arsenio Marengula (ZAM)
Fourth Official: Wellington Kaoma (ZAM)

Morocco – Cote D’Ivoire

Referee: Bernard Camille (SEY)
Assistant Referee 1: Eldrick Adelaide (SEY)
Assistant Referee 2: Gilbert Usta (SEY)
Fourth Official: Nelson Fred (SEY)

Egypt – Ghana

Referee: Eric Otogo Castane (GAB)
Assistant Referee 1: Theophille Vinga (GAB)
Assistant Referee 2: Moussounda Montel (GAB)
Fourth Official: Beranger Woungui (GAB)

Guinea – Congo DR
Referee: Alioum Alioum (CMR)
Assistant Referee 1: Evarist Menkouande (CMR)
Assistant Referee 1: Elvis Noupue (CMR)
Fourth Official: Aurelien Juenkou (CMR)